The Esquire line on every conceivable GOP matchup for 2012, and the odds-on favorites for the nomination. Please have a seat.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Your Republican Field

Ladies and Gentlemen, Your Republican Field

Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor and a leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination, said recently that the campaign to determine who will face Barack Obama in next year's election will come down to "two finalists," and that all of the candidates currently in the field are "serious contenders."

"Usually," Romney went on to say, "you have two people that end up battling it down the stretch. I don't know who they will be."

We don't, either. But we are heartened to hear that the whole marvelous bunch are going to be serious contenders, and have decided that — six months before the caucuses and primaries are set to begin — it is time to lay the odds on who those two finalists will be.

So here we've provided all the conceivable matchups, along with the likelihood that they will ever happen, as well as characterized what the issues and tenor of the campaigns might look like. We've included for your consideration all those who have announced their candidacies or are likely to do so, we've included a couple of complete wild cards (Jeb Bush, Rick Perry), and we've even allowed for a scenario in which the big guy from New Jersey is compelled to throw his substantial hat into the ring.